Yanni

During his time as a student, Yanni played in a local rock band and continued to study piano and other keyboard instruments.

Yanni joined the Minneapolis-based rock group Chameleon, working with its founder, drummer Charlie Adams. After leaving the band, Yanni moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of movie soundtrack work. Read Less

More analytically, the Hartford Courant's Steve Metcalf "deconstructed" Yanni's music as being "from a harmonic standpoint, constructed of materials found in a lot of late-19th, early 20th century classical music. It is essentially tonal, tinged with mild whiffs of dissonance here and there, sometimes rhythmically frisky, graspable on first listening, and self-evidently mood-inducing. There are two basic moods to Yanni music: struttingly heroic with martial overtones, and dreamily contemplative.... A kind of peaceful, easy-feeling link between pop music and classical music."

More recently, Allmusic's Mark Deming characterized Yanni's compositions and performances as having "a pronounced sense of drama, dynamics, and romanticism," writing that Yanni has a "commanding performance style." In 2012 Howie Grapek remarked in The Palm Beach Post's PBPulse that "there are few modern-day composers with a unique sense of music and style which is truly their own. To compare new-age music with classic rock is a stretch, but for Yanni, it is possible. This Greek composer marries contemporary new-age spirituality with today’s pop attitudes and delivers a unique sound." Yanni has employed musicians of various nationalities, and has incorporated a variety of instruments from around the world from an Australian didgeridoo to a Peruvian charango, to perform with his classical orchestra, rock rhythm section, and electronic keyboards. His music has been described as "an eclectic fusion of ethnic sounds, from Native American chants to African rhythms and Asian harmonies." Read Less